Nintendo Claims Android Rumors are False

Yesterday, the internet ran wild with rumors that Nintendo’s upcoming console, code named “NX,” would be running on Android OS. Today, Nintendo has come forth to smash this rumor.

A Nintendo spokesman said: “There is no truth to the report saying that we are planning to adopt Android for NX.”

The rumor began with Japan’s Nikkei newspaper which said that the NX would be powered by Google’s operating system. The newspaper obtained this information through an anonymous source.

People could be forgiven for believing this rumor. Earlier this year, Nintendo announced a deal with Japanese mobile giant DeNA to produce new mobile games developed by Nintendo. At the same time, The House That Mario Built announced that it was working on a new console. If you combine those two news items together, it’s reasonable to guess that the next system would be powered by a mobile friendly OS. Given the ubiquity of Android, it would make sense that Nintendo would use it.

As of now, this rumor has been shot down but we all know that companies sometimes flat-out lie in order to not divulge their strategies at an inopportune time. We’ll see where this goes moving forward.